Starbucks Unveils Temporary Green Cups, Customers Erupt With Rage

Change averse Starbucks customers expressed their upset across social media today (November 1), when the coffee chain announced their typical red holiday cups would be replaced with green ones.

The cups’ new design — which features a continuous line drawing of over 100 people, created by Shogo Ota — is meant to represent unity, which is, arguably, a pretty holiday-appropriate sentiment.

“The green cup and the design represent the connections Starbucks has as a community with its partners (employees) and customers," said CEO Howard Schultz in a statement. "During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other.”

Despite Starbucks' attempt at bringing consumers together, Twitter was rife with angry tweets about the unveiling:

But Starbucks drinkers are nothing if not consistent: This latest, sad controversy harkens back to last year, when customers took offense after the company announced its 2015 holiday cup would do away with illustrations entirely and consist solely of a solid red design. Starbucks opted for the change in an attempt to shirk any religious affiliation and offer a more neutral stance on the holiday season.

"This year we wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories,” said Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks' vice president of Design & Content, of the design last year.

People were upset then, too, as many customers felt Starbucks had suddenly declared war on Christmas (??) in its attempt to be more inclusive of all consumers' backgrounds.

Spencer Platt, Getty Images

It turns out, however, that fans of Starbucks' traditional red holiday cups need not worry -- the green cups are temporary. Stores will begin to roll out the official designs -- which will, at the very least, consist of that classic red base -- beginning on November 10, rendering all this outrage empty and meaningless!